Published: Mar 10, 2017, 12:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 10, 2017, 12:27 PM (IST)
Galaxy Gladiators registered their first win of the DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz 2017, courtesy of a 8-wicket victory over Hong Kong Island United at the Mission Road Cricket Ground, Mong Kok. Anshuman Rath and Kumar Sangakkara put on 111 runs for the third wicket to ensure the Galaxy Gladiators got home. Rath, who has already made a couple of good starts in the tournament so far, finally managed to get a fifty and more importantly. Rath ensured he was there till the end to see his side home. He was well supported by Sangakkara, who towards the end of the match started clearing the fence, as the situation demanded.
This is United’s first ever loss in the tournament, but they put up a formidable total on the board, thanks to some wonderful hitting right at the end by Misbah-ul-Haq. He followed up his brilliant innings from Thursday with a magnificent 50-ball 84. He once again exploded in the last couple of overs. He struck 33 runs from his bat alone to ensure that his team got to a competitive score of 177. When Rath and Sangakkara joined hands, the team needed 111 runs to win and they got there without any further damage. Rodney Miles, CHK President: Progress HK have made over the years has been tremendous
While the first couple of days saw scores in excess of 200, there have been a few matches where the teams failed to go past that score. However, Sangakkara believes that we score in excess of 200 can still be scored on this pitch. “The pitch has not changed. Still going to be over 200, I reckon. If you get anything under 190, you’re going to struggle,” Sangakkara said.
Galaxy Gladiators’ captain Anshuman Rath says he and the team are happy to get over the line. “The bowlers did a fantastic job. It was more about batting start than recklessly. We got off to a flying start with Jesse (Ryder). Me and Sanga [Sangakkara] just looked to rotate strike and get the score,” he said.
Brief scores:
Hong Kong Island United 177 for 7 in 20 overs (Jamie Atkinson 22, Misbah-ul-Haq 84*; Azeem Rafiq 2 for 22, Assad Vala 2 for 18) lost to Galaxy Gladiators Lantau 178 for 2 in 19 overs (Anshuman Rath 53*, Kumar Sangakkara 70*; Tanwir Afzal 1 for 28, Samuel Badree 1 for 46) by 8 wickets.
Man of the match: Kumar Sangakkara
